Love in Heaven
by ShanTV Broadway
Summary: A better ending to the show, one I think everyone would have wanted: Melchior and Wendla get their happy ending.
1. Chapter 1

~ "Forget the coins, we'll use Mommy's letter!"

"And _you _can lick it up!"

"Like a _dog_!" 

Melchior's rage overtook him, and he punched and kicked himself free from the horrid boys.

He ran and ran until he approached the large wall at the end of the reformatory yard. Hurriedly he climbed up and over, and jumped down onto the free ground.

Melchior started to sprint away, towards the road, towards his home.

He had to find her, so that they could find a better life together. Not just for them, but for the child she carried within her. _Their_ child. 

~ "Where are we going, Mama?"

Wendla was beginning to become frightened. Her mother had not spoken to her and was acting so secretive since the day they discovered she was to have a child.

Now Frau Bergman was leading her through an unfamiliar street in the village, to a small broken down building.

She knocked on the door three times, and a man answered with a dark gleam in his eye. "Frau Bergman?"

_How does he know Mama? _Wendla wondered. Now she was really scared.

"I'll take her now," he nodded to her mother. He grabbed Wendla by the arm and tried to pull her inside. 

"Mama?" she asked.

"I'll be with you every moment," Frau Bergman patted her hand gently before suddenly letting go.

The man now had complete hold on Wendla and dragged completely through the doorway. 

"Mama, Mama don't leave me!" she screamed. "Mama!" 

The door slammed shut, and Wendla began to sob. What was going to happen to her? Why was her mother leaving her here all alone?

She turned and looked around the dim room. There was only a single window, barred with two pieces of wood. There was only a crack of light streaming between the planks, which landed on a dark stained mattress in the center of the room. Next to it was a small table with glistening sharp metal objects lying across, dirty and foul smelling.

Wendla was horrified. Was her mother having her killed? Could be having a child out of marriage be that sinful? 

The man loosened his grip from her and she quickly pulled away.

"Leave me alone!" she cried. The man pressed his finger to her lips to silence her. 

"Don't be frightened," he said softly. " My name is Franz. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Then why am I here?" Wendla lashed out to him. "Why did my mama leave me here alone?"

Sighing, Franz explained to the young girl what her mother wanted to be done. As he spoke, she began to look even more frightened.

"No!" she cried when he had finished. "I would never let anyone do that to my child! Never!"

"I know," he said sadly. "I wish I could say the same." 

"What do you mean?" Wendla asked, unsure of why the man was so sad.

"Years ago, I had a daughter just about your age. She fell in love with a boy, and soon bore his child. Her mother and I were shocked and disappointed in her, just as your mother is towards you, but unlike my wife, I accepted it, and looked forward to having a grandchild."

"My wife, however," he continued, "wanted nothing of the sort. She told me that the child could not be found out about, and since we had no money to leave our village or send away our daughter, then the infant was to die."

"I was a doctor at the time, and had training in caring for expectant mothers, but not for terminating a pregnancy. My wife forced me to perform the procedure anyway, and I took the life of not only an innocent babe, but my own little girl."

Franz had tears running down his face, and he was now bracing himself against the wall. 

"I am so sorry," Wendla said comfortingly. She put her hand to his shoulder.

Franz straightened himself up, and in return put his hand on hers.

"You remind me so much of my little Wilhelmina, which is why I am helping you escape. Now, very quietly, I want you to leave this place. Leave, run away and don't ever come back! Find the father of your child if you wish and start a new life together." 

He sighed. "Maybe you could help bring some sense to this world."

Wendla smiled. "Oh thank you! Thank you so much!" She wrapped her arms around him.

Franz tried at first to pull away, but relented and returned the quick embrace. 

"Go, now!" He opened a secret door in the wall, which showered the room in bright light. 

Wendla, as quickly and quietly as she could, slipped out the door and ran down the street. How would she find Melchior?

She knew she had to find someone who could help her find him; someone she could trust.

Wendla fled the town until she reached the small cottage where Ilse resided alone. She knocked on the door, praying that her friend was home.

After a few moments, the door swung open and Ilse invited her inside. Wendla told her everything thing that had happened, from being with Melchior in the hayloft to when Franz set her free. 

"I can't go home, Ilse," she finished. "If I do, Mama will try to get rid of my child, and I'll never see Melchior again!"

"Don't worry," Ilse assured her. "You can stay with me. I won't tell anyone, I promise."

**One week later…**

"Wendla! Come quickly!"

Wendla rushed into the parlor to find Ilse holding up a piece of paper.

"It's from Melchior," she said.

"Let me see!" Wendla took the letter and read:

_Ilse, _

_I have been running for days, but at last I am back. _

_Now I beg of you, for the sake of our old friendship, bring Wendla to meet me tonight in the graveyard behind the church. I will be waiting there at midnight. _

_Melchior Gabor_

"Oh, Ilse, how wonderful!" Wendla was beaming. " I must get ready! Oh Melchior, at last!"


	2. Chapter 2

_I'm changing the narratives of the story, so that Wendla and Melchior tell the story in their own words, instead of in the third person point of view._

_This chapter begins with Melchior…  
_

~ I glanced around to make sure it is safe, then dart into the cemetery.

After roaming around, I noticed a familiar headstone and examined it, reading the inscription.

"Moritz," I whispered. "My old friend."

The church tower's clock struck midnight, its bells echoing in the sky.

I looked around. Had she gotten the note? Would she come?

"Wendla?" I hissed into the shadows. "Wendla?"

"Melchi?"

I heard her voice behind me, distant but close. I turned around.

Wendla was standing with Ilse at the gate of the burial grounds.

"Oh, Melchi, it's really you!" She ran to me and we shared a deep embrace.

"It's going to be alright, Wendla." I held her tightly. "I promise."

To hold her in my arms again feels as if my heart shall burst from my chest. I shall never let her go again, for as long as I live.

"Melchi, my mother," Wendla started to cry.

"What? What happened?" I asked her softly, rubbing her back to soothe her.

She looks up at me and tells me all that has happened.

~When I finished explaining everything, Melchior had never looked so angry than I have seen him before.

"Wendla, I promise, no one will ever try to take our child from us. Never." He held me close to him very tight.

"We'll go away from here," he continued. "We can start a new life together. We'll build a better world for our child, our family."

"Oh, yes Melchi!" I agreed. "Let's do it!"

Then a thought occurred to me. "But, where will we go?"

"We may have to travel a ways," he said. "Maybe even live somewhere in secret for a while. But I promise, we'll be alright."

"Of course you will be." Ilse joined us. "I'll give you everything you'll need before you go. You won't have to worry about a thing, Wendla."

I smiled. I knew he was right; Melchior would always protect me, just like he promised, because he loves me, and I love him.

An hour later, Melchi and I were at the edge of the village border with Ilse.

We had several bags and knapsacks with us; Melchior told me that the only way we could get what we need to survive was to steal it, until we got somewhere safe and could make our own money.

Ilse helps us sneak into shops and other buildings and we search for and find things that Melchior and I will need: clothes, food, tools, and other supplies.

When we finish, I break into tears. I had never done something like this before, break the law.

Melchior hugs me close. "It's just it's…"

"It's to help us survive, Wendla. To help us stay together." He murmurs in my ear. "Never forget that."

I nod and wipe away my tears.

The three of us head back to the road where Ilse's cottage stood aside and peered out to a tall mound of hills ahead of it, and in the far off distance the outline of a forest is visible.

I had never left home before, and now I was leaving forever.

"There's nothing but roads and wilderness for miles," Ilse told us. "You'll have to take shelter somewhere at some point, but you won't want to be seen, of course."

"We'll manage something," Melchior replied. He took hold of the rug sacks.

"Thank you, Ilse, for everything." I hug my friend, Melchior following so.

We start walking not once stopping to look back. I could never look back; I didn't even want to.

All I wanted to do was be with Melchi and begin a new life with him, where no one could keep us apart.


End file.
